by Rob Buckman
"So, what now?” Penn asked as he stretched his arms over his head, breathing deeply.
"We head toward that,” Ellis was pointing to the distant pyramid looming up over the hilltop behind them, and pushed a package against Penn's chest, “I think you'll need this.”
Inside the package were underwear, socks, boots, and a new set of combat BDU's, all Penn's size. At least he wouldn't have to walk about this jungle in a set of paper ship's overalls and traction slippers. Penn moved off to the side and changed into the new clothes.
“All right Captain Carras, Sergeant Jaxx. Let's get this dog and pony show sorted out, and on the road.”
“At your orders Major.” He replied, turning to organize getting the supplies and equipment off the shuttle and sorted out.
After checking out the team, the medic, Corporal Romm reported to Ellis that there were no broken bones, and just a few superficial cuts and bruises. Ellis nodded her thanks, and moved off out of the way, pulling a scanner out of her hip pack as she did. The sensor showed abnormally high oxygen at 24% with less nitrogen and lower CO2. She guessed that stemmed from the forest and jungle that covered two thirds of the planet. The planet also had a high gravity as well, 1.2 Earth standard, and 1.75 against the Imperial base line. Some of the men in her platoon came from lower gravity home worlds, and she hoped that wouldn't be a problem.
After Penn changed, he stood off to one side, leaning against the side of the shuttle while the team lugged cargo packs outside to add to the growing pile at the base of the ramp. He sensed his help wasn't welcome, not that he gave a rat's ass what they thought. As they worked, Penn kept his ears open to talk around him, learning as much about these troops as possible. Squad Leader Dana was in an argument with the senior squad leader Sartac. Not that it was any of Penn's concern, but for some reason, by the body language and attitude, Dana was truly pissed off about getting chewed out about something.
Sergeant Jaxx divided the various supplies into individual packs loads for each trooper to carry with one exception. Without knowing Penn's status, he couldn't order him to carry anything. Penn on the other hand, located a body harness, and an empty backpack, and started looking over the supplies and equipment. Unlike the troopers, he preferred a light load, choosing his items carefully. A coil of rope, first aid kit, freeze-dried food concentrates, mess kit, and fire starters. He filled a 'camel' pack from the shuttle's water tank and set it aside. Finally, he stuffed as many energy bars, magnesium flares, and miscellaneous items such as packets of Kaf, powdered cream and sugar as he could find into the pack's side pockets. At no time did he go near the cased weapons. In fact, he ignored them.
Without knowing how many troopers would survive, much less if the planet's vegetation was even edible, the General had ordered the dreadnoughts supply department to pack as many ration packs and sundry supplies into the containers as possible. That meant they had ample food, water, and supplies, and they'd have to abandon much of what remained. On the plus side, it would act as an emergency supply point if any of them got through this alive, and needed to come back.
Ellis watched Penn out the corner of her eye as she prepared her equipment, suspecting he'd head for the weapon lockers. It surprised her when he didn't. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out a wrapped bundle the General had given her earlier with instructions not to give it to Penn until they were on the ground, and ready to move out. Inside were three knives, the first two were chisel pointed 'Tanto' style blades, black anodized, and razor sharp. The third blade was more like a short sword than a knife. She remembered a picture of one she'd seen in a history book, back when such things existed. Its shape was like the Roman 'Gladiolus' but smooth and flowing unlike of the angular Roman design. Evidently this was hand forged by a master craftsman with loving attention to detail, right down to the dragon motif etched into the watered steel on each side of the blade. To her surprise, it fitted comfortably in her hand, even with the double wrapped handle. Penn must have similarly sized hands, but she hadn't noticed till now.
“The General told me to give you this.”
“Thanks.” Penn already knew what the bundle contained, “but, these aren't from the General. They're from the Director of Imperial Security.” That brought a raised eyebrow from Ellis, but he didn't elaborate.
Unwrapping the bundle, he pulled out one of the Tanto blades and felt the edge with his thumb. Still sharp. Perfect for cutting IMPSEC throats. A thin smile spread across his lips as he looked first at her, then the troopers behind her.
Ellis looked down at the blade, suspecting he was as lethal with the knives as most of her squad was with their pulse rifles. She also suspected what he was thinking, and it bothered her. What if he went rogue deciding to kill them all, and then going after the prize himself? The General told her not to trust him, but how could she not. It was all right to make such statements sitting in the comfort, and safety of a ship's cabin. But another here on the surface surrounded by dense jungle. Especially after stunning him in the hotel room, and dragging him here. It still came down to the mystery of two words. One million! Whatever that meant.
“Go and draw a weapon from Sergeant Jaxx.” Even before she'd finished speaking, Penn was shaking his head.
“Don't have any use for one, and besides, I don't think your Girl Scouts would take kindly to seeing me armed with one.” Before she could say anything, Penn turned away and walked off, humming to himself.
Penn slipped the largest of the three blades over the web belt sideways behind his back so the handle was within easy reach, and used cargo tape to strap the other two into sleeves of his harness on the left and right breast, handles pointing down. That simple act told Ellis that Penn might have more combat experience than she thought. While checking her weapon, Ellis detected a spreading sense of unease among her troops, having learned to recognize the signs. From their point of view, it was unfortunate enough having someone like Penn with them, a human, and all he stood for. Now he was armed. It didn't occur to her that some of that unease was directed at her.
As he worked, Penn studied the thick jungle bordering the crash site, seeing the long, slanting gash, smashed trees, and churned up dirt from their landing. It explained how the shuttlecraft survived its final approach, impacting on a long sloping hillside, pointing almost exactly away from the pyramid. All around came the chirps, calls, screams, and chatter of the wildlife as it resumed its normal activities now that the disturbance had ended. Penn’s brow pulled into a frown of surprised at the ease that the birds, large and small were able to fly. Somehow, the force that pulled starship from space didn't affect them. Penn tried to imagine the advanced technology that could rip a starship out of the sky millions of miles from the planet, yet leave the background gravitational attraction near normal. A neat trick. He also wondered if it was possible to reverse the effect, and repel a foreign object like an asteroid or a descending missile. If so, it would be one hell of a planetary defensive system. Such a weapon would also account for the unblemished appearance of the pyramid. Penn debated slipping away into the surrounding jungle, easy enough. He pursed his lips, thinking of the pain device planted in his neck. His eyes drifted up the hill, and the strange pyramid shaped building in the distance. Reached back, he scratched the slight lump, feeling the last of the scab flaking off. It might be interesting to find out what this prize thing was all about, and exactly what was inside the pyramid. Now he was here, there was no real rush to go anywhere, not until he'd figured out a way to escape. With a slight shrug he returned to finish packing his gear.
Sergeant Jaxx meanwhile issued the equipment to the troopers, including a special slug-throwing rifle, for sniper work, and two hundred rounds of 60 caliber armor piercing rounds to Trooper Class. He also issued assorted grenades, frag, HE and phosphor. Class, the platoon's hulking heavy weapons man was also loaded down with four of the 10-pound energy packs into his belt pouches. Under sustained fire, each dense-pack battery was good for up to one hour of continuous use, bu
t with no re-supply around the corner he'd have to use what he had sparingly. Each man also picked up a twenty round pack of 'blooper' ammo for their over and under grenade launcher, as well as extra power packs for the plasma rifles. By that time, each trooper was carrying better than sixty pounds. If that wasn't sufficient, they were in a world of hurt. Penn shook his head. He preferred a fast and light approach, but he wasn't in charge.
Penn drank as much water as he could while he waited, his eyes, and ears cataloged the flora and fauna around him. Every jungle was different, yet all the plants and wild life filled the same Eco-niche, and it was a straightforward matter of observation, and deduction to learn which. After stuffing as many concentrated food packs as he could inside his pack, Penn strapped a sleeping mat, blanket roll and a poncho on top and swung it onto his back, adjusting the straps to his liking. He jumped up and down a few times, shaking the pack from side to side. It sat well, without making a sound as he moved. Sub-Major Ellis nodded to herself. She couldn't fault him on the way he prepared his equipment. Pulling a forage cap down to shade his eyes, Penn unsheathed his short sword and started walking up the hillside in the direction of the pyramid.
"Hold on, Penn. I didn't say you could go!” She called, wiping sweat off her face. Penn didn't answer but kept on walking. She hesitated as she reached for control unit for the pain inducer. Before she could, Trooper Class stepped in front of Penn.
CHAPTER - EIGHT: A walk in the park
"The Major told you to stop, bitchboy!” He topped Penn's six-foot two frame by a head and shoulder.
"I heard her.” Penn said, flashing Class a disarming smile as he squeezed down on his stomach muscles.
"So do what she tells you!” Class placed his ham-sized hand on Penn's chest and pushed.
Class expected to see the small human stumble back, he didn't. Instead, Penn flexed like a reed. Class pushed harder, and the rest of the team turned to watch, grinning in expectation. Without warning Penn spun, and Class went flying through the air as if jet propelled. He landed with a loud thud, and a spray of muddy debris and lay there, stunned. Penn continued walking away as if nothing had happened.
'Size doesn't matter' the ghost of Sergeant Major Blessing whispered in his ear. Penn smiled slightly, remembering those words, imagined seeing a nod of approval and a smile on his old instructor's chubby face. For a moment, no one moved, including Ellis. All stood there in opened mouth surprise. Class was a force of nature. To date he'd never lost an argument much less a fight. So why was he laying in a heap on the ground looking like he'd just been run over by shuttle bus?
"Damn it!” Ellis yelled, looking at the team. ”Follow him, you idiots!"
"Yes, Ma'am.” The stunned troopers grabbed their gear and pounded up the hill after Penn. Shaking her head, Ellis walked over and pulled Class on his feet.
“What happened, Major?” He asked, his eyes slightly out of focus.
“You got your ass kicked, that's what.” Turning him over to the medic, Ellis shook her head in disgust.
Trust Penn to start trouble before the mission even started, and yet? The incident did establish in her troops mind that he wasn't someone to screw around with, doubting any of them wanted to mess with him after seeing what he'd just done to Class.
As he walked, Penn let the environment seep into him, listening to the strange sounds of the jungle life around him, breathing the hot humid air in through his nose, smelling and tasting the various odors, and feeling the soft muddy ground beneath his boots. It felt good, almost like a walk in your own backyard, familiar, but slightly different somehow. Growing to manhood in the Amazon, the old warriors of the tribe taught him, along with the other boys how to make the jungle environment his friend, to live in, and become one with it. They taught him to see what belonged, and what didn't, and even if this jungle wasn't his own, he was now part of it.
Once passed the long gouge from the shuttle landing, trees and vegetation of all shapes and sizes surrounded him, climbing upward toward the life-giving sunlight above. He looked up, estimating the tree canopy to be at least two hundred feet above his head. That was a lot higher than the trees on Earth. Emerald green twilight bathed the area under the canopy interlaced here and there with beautiful shafts of golden sunlight that stabbed down through small gaps in the foliage above. But for the thick black mud that stuck to everything this place had an almost ethereal feel to it, much as he remembered from childhood. As he'd thought before, this was the meeting place where heaven and hell came together. He might like to think of it as his playground, but he knew from experience, any jungle was full of hidden dangers. Not just from the wild life, but from the vegetation. Any number of the plants around him could kill at a careless touch, their sap cause agonizing burns. Only time would tell if that was true for this jungle as it was for the Amazon.
The medic held Class upright as he shook his head, wondering what the hell happened. Hefting his weapon, and dragging the rest of his equipment behind him, he used the steadying arm of the medic to help him follow the Major. The medic grunted as Class put his weight on his shoulder, but thankfully it wasn’t for long. They made slow procession up the hill behind Penn as Class tried to figure out how that little human twit had tossed him across the clearing so easily.
At the top of the hill, the jungle opened onto a high ridge, and one by one they came up and stood beside Penn on the edge of the cliff looking at the distant pyramid looming on the horizon. Even from a hundred miles away, it dominated the landscape. Its top lost in the clouds. While the rest of the team gawked at the building like a bunch of tourist, Penn went down on one knee, and carefully examined the jungle two hundred feet below, not liking what he saw. There was no straight-line path through the dense vegetation, and he knew from experience, they'd be walking in every direction except the one they wanted. Trying to chop their way through that dense mat was out of the question. The best they could do was follow whatever game trail they could find, hopefully in the right direction
.
"Penn! I told you to stop!” Ellis dragging her eyes away from the stupendous building as she came up beside him, panting for breath.
“So? I stopped.” Penn answered looking over his shoulder with a questioning expression.
“I meant down… Understand this, Penn. I'm in charge of this mission!"
“Right now I'm in charge,” Penn shot back as he stood up to face her, “not you, despite what the General said. Unless you want to try and lead this bunch of Girl Scouts through that.” He said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.
"I can try!” She answered after a quick glance at the jungle below.
"Right! Be my guest, but don't look at me when you get lost, or run into something you can't handle.” He looked pointedly at the jungle below and the moving vegetation where some large, unseen animal moved.
"Major, he's right. This is his area of expertise.” The Sergeant Jaxx reluctantly added, already panting for breath in the steamy air.
"We have compasses, Major!” Captain Carras countered, equally winded.
"Compasses won't do you much good in there,” Penn snorted. "You'd get better use out of a two-dollar Mexican watch. At least it'll be right twice a day!” Penn turned back to study the jungle below.” Frigging Girl Scouts,” he muttered under his breath.
"So you say," Ellis shot back.
“So I know! This is where I lived, my playground, and one of the reasons the Director sent me on this trip.” For a moment, he almost told her of the one million other reasons but held his tongue. He doubted she'd believe him anyway... unless she already knew?
"And the other?” She asked. Penn considered his reply for a moment before speaking.
"Just to piss you off.” Penn snapped as he turned and walked away.
“You do that perfectly!” Ellis growled at his retreating back.
"What's a two-dollar Mexican watch, Major?” The Captain asked. Major Ellis sighed and shook her head.
"I'll explain later,
Captain. Let's move it out people.”
“You heard the Major! Follow that fuc…” the Sergeant looked quickly over his shoulder at the Major, and amended his order.” …fine young fellow from Earth.”
* * * * * *
"Major?” The Sergeant's voice interrupted her thoughts as they followed the ridge line behind Penn. "Whatever you, or I might think about that man. I know for a fact that he ran our troops ragged for ten years in a jungle like this. We had some good jungle troops, or we thought we did, but nothing like him. He's as much at home in here as any animal. If anyone can get us to the objective, he can.”
"Sorry I snapped, Sergeant Jaxx, but he aggravates the hell out of me.”
"Me too, Major, me too.” Sergeant Jaxx gave her a quick saluted and followed the troopers, keeping whatever else he thought to himself. A little later, Captain Carras asked, panting for breath.